Campfire grills are an ideal way to cook your food while camping. The best part is, they can be made with virtually any materials! Planning your next campfire without worrying about the lack of firewood?
Outdoor cooking is one of the best summer pastimes, and nothing beats having a campfire on a cool summer evening. But if you’re not handy with your hands or don’t have the luxury of space in your backyard for a temporary outdoor cooking site, there are still plenty of grilling options available to you.
With easy-to-follow instructions and with no need for an actual fire, this article is perfect for any campsite or backyard grill. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to build your own campfire grill.
Campfire Grill Plans Guide
1) Find some sturdy pieces of wood that are the same length and width as you would like your grill to be. The wood is the most important part, because that’s what you’ll be using to support the grill.
2) Now, a good rule of thumb for cutting your campfire grates is to cut four boards in half. If you want to make a 12″ x 24″ grate, cut four boards in half so that you have 8 pieces of wood. Make sure your boards are slightly longer than your grate length at each end. Ideally, find boards that are 3″ longer than your grate length. What you’re aiming for is a height of 6″.
3) For the most stability, cut your grates at an angle. This will give you a better surface on which to cook and grill. Be sure to make the grates at least 1/2″ tall (about 1″).
4) To secure the boards in place and ensure they don’t move while cooking, use liquid nails or screws.
5) Now, when you are ready to cook, place the grate over your fire pit and ignite your wood. After about 20 to 30 minutes, the wood should be very hot.
You may be asking yourself what is the point of a campfire grill? Well, aside from trying to emulate an outdoor barbecue experience, there are many ways to make this campfire cooking grate more efficient in terms of cooking your food! You can use it to cook pizzas or bannock (roasted bread in a skillet). However, it’s best to use it for broiling steaks, fish and burgers. Here’s our some easy and simple campfire grilled recipes for campers:
Our Favorite Campfire Recipes
Grilled Chicken Drumsticks Recipe
This is a simple and delicious recipe that your whole family will enjoy. You start by seasoning the chicken drumsticks with salt, pepper and garlic powder. This helps the seasoning adhere to the skin. Tossing them in butter or margarine adds even more flavor and also helps to seal in moisture. Basting them while they cook on the grill keeps them moist, and helps to enhance the flavor.
Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 – 45 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
– 12 chicken drumsticks (about 2 and 1/2 lb.)
– 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
– For the sauce 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
– 1/4 cup ketchup
– 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
– 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
– 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Preparation:
1. Place chicken in 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Brush butter or margarine evenly over chicken.
2. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 180 degrees when inserted into thickest part of the drumstick and juices run clear (180 degrees). Remove from oven; baste with accumulated juices. Place drumsticks on a rack over a foil-lined 15 1/2- by 10 1/2-inch jelly roll pan.
4. Grill chicken, uncovered, over medium heat or broil 4 inches from the heat for 12 to 15 minutes or until juices run clear (180 degrees) and meat is no longer pink, turning and basting occasionally with pan drippings.
Grilled Pig Feet Recipe
When you want to make something truly indulgent, try the Grilled Pig Feet Recipe. Served at a pig roast or in a small inn, these succulent pieces of pork are just begging for their own pie or casserole. But there’s something much more special than the way they taste: they’re made with only three ingredients! This recipe is perfect if you have leftover fresh pig feet in your freezer. Don’t worry, it’s not hard to find.
Moreover, you don’t have to be a professional cook to make these. Grilled pig feet are easy to prepare, too.
Preparation Time: 30 min (30 min of actual cooking time)
Preheat your grill to 375F.
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 package of fresh pig feet (about 6 lbs), cut into 6 equal pieces
1 cup of butter, melted
Salt
Directions:
1. Rinse the pig feet pieces well in cold water, and remove any traces of hair from the surface with a knife or kitchen scissors. Pat the pig feet dry with paper towels. You can also choose to wait for about 15 minutes for the hair to fall off by itself.
2. Combine the melted butter and salt to make a paste. Place it in a small dish that’s easier to dip out of.
3. Brush some of the butter-salt mixture onto the pig feet pieces, and then place them, meaty side up, on your grill. Grill them for 20 minutes on each side or until they’re golden brown.
4. Remove the grilled pig feet from the grill, and serve with a toothpick inserted in each piece for easy handling.
The pig feet are delicious alone, but they’re also great as part of a pig roast.
So there you have it. No messy sausages; tender and flavorful grilled pig feet that can be easily prepared at home. If you want to make them even easier, get yourself some fresh pig feet from your local butcher. The only prerequisites are that the meat is fresh, not frozen, and that it’s cut into uniform pieces of equal size. These three things will make all the difference in the taste. You could also ask your butcher to cut the feet for you.
Campfire Grilled Shrimp Recipe
Grilling shrimp on a campfire is quick and easy. The ingredients are familiar and the taste is delicious. A camp fire provides the perfect atmosphere for cooking shrimp over an open flame; as you watch, your food cooks in front of you in just a few minutes, without turning it into charcoal or charcoal ash. It also cooks quickly enough to produce an appetizing meal, but if you want to cook more at once use two grills side by side. The recipe calls for 12 peeled and deveined shrimp per person. These shrimp are grilled to perfection over the campfire and served with homemade pesto dipping sauce. The recipe is surprisingly easy and will be a huge hit at any summer party!
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
– 1/2 pound frozen shrimp, thawed, tail removed
– 2 tablespoons olive oil
– 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
– 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
– 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more for greater spiciness)
– Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
– 4 tablespoons prepared pesto
Directions:
1. Place the shrimp in a medium bowl, add the oil, lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill or campfire for high heat (400°F). Arrange hot coals in a circle about 8 inches away from grill grate.
3. Thread the shrimp onto the toothpicks, add a dollop of pesto and grill for 2-3 minutes per side, until the shrimp are completely opaque.
Serving Idea: Serve with a warm plate of grilled corn and gourmet bread.
Notes:
– Use any pesto you like, or make your own. I personally prefer the basil pesto, but pesto can be made with any combination of herbs you prefer.
– The shrimp can also be served over rice or quinoa.
– You can easily adjust the spiciness by adding more red pepper flakes for more heat, or more salt for a less spicy taste.
– Make batches of these shrimp and bring them to parties, barbecues and family gatherings. Guests will love the spicy flavoring and your kitchen will be the most popular one at the event!
Campfire Grilled Salmon Recipe
This is the very first recipe to adapt a Campfire Grilled Salmon Recipe. It can be made with a marinade, or you can use some of your favorite dry spices and herbs or herbs and spices that would go well with fish. This is probably one of the most time-consuming recipes, but it’s absolutely worth it because this is one satisfying dish that pays for itself many times over as a special meal for family and friends. It’s the only way I will ever grill fish again.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Cooking Time: 1 hour (5 minutes per side)
Ingredients:
– 1 fresh or frozen salmon fillet
– 2 Tbsp butter, melted
– 1½ tsp lemon pepper seasoning
– 1½ tsp olive oil (extra virgin)
– 4 cloves garlic, crushed and coarsely chopped
– Additional garlic slices for garnish on serving platter (optional)
Marinade Ingredients:
– 1/4 cup Lime Juice
– 2 tbsp. Lime Zest
– 1 tbsp. Honey
– 24 oz. Sour Cream
– 2 tbsp. Soy Sauce
– 4 garlic cloves, minced
– 1 tsp. Garlic Powdered Peper
– 2 tsp. Kosher Salt
Directions:
1. Rinse the salmon under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a small bowl combine the butter, lemon pepper seasoning, olive oil and garlic until smooth. Add more of the individual ingredients if it’s too thick.
3. Place the salmon in a shallow dish or plate.
4. Pour the butter and garlic mixture over the salmon and spread evenly on both sides of salmon, coating both sides well.
5. If you are going to grill your salmon, place the salmon on a grill over hot coals or charcoal barbecue for about 10-12 minutes per side (turning once after about 8 minutes). Avoid direct flames as that can burn fish.
6. If you are using a gas grill, turn it on and heat it up for about 10 minutes; oil the grill rack and place the salmon on the rack over medium-hot coals or gas grill for about 5 minutes per side (again turning once after about 4 minutes).
7. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your fillets, so use a meat thermometer if you have one. Check the internal temperature at the thickest part of the fish.
8. Remove from grill and transfer to serving platter.
9. Garnish with extra fresh garlic and serve hot with your favorite sauce, like Tartar Sauce or Basic Sauce Recipe.
Campfire Grilled Hamburgers Recipe
The campfire is meant for a whole lot more than just roasting marshmallows or toasting smores. Of course, it’s fantastic at those things, but it can also be used to fry up burgers with a delicious grilled taste! Now this is something that I actually know how to do!
In order for the process to work, you’ll need two pans—one for cooking your burger and the other one (not pictured) atop of the coals in your fire pit.
Ingredients:
– 4 patties of your favorite meat
– 1/3 cup BBQ sauce (your favorite!)
– 1/2 tbsp butter or margarine
Directions:
1) Start by pattieing your meat. I prefer a quarter pounder bun with two flatter patties. This allows for more on the grill at once.
2) Next, spread BBQ sauce on both sides of the patty.
3) Now, place on the grill (pattie side up). I usually place a beer in between the two patties so that they are seperated by liquid. This allows for more heat and steam to reach one side of the patty.
4) In about 10-15 minutes, you’ll see that a burger will start burning from the bottom. At this point, remove from heat and flip it over.
5) Now, cook further for another 5-8 minutes.
6) When finished, use a spatula to carefully remove from grill and top with butter or margarine.
Now, you’re ready to enjoy the grilled flavor of your choice!
Conclusion
While grilling is an enjoyable way to cook your food, there are many occasions when it’s not practical. When you’re camping or hiking, making fire and lifting heavy pans is a lot of work. On top of that, having to carry those pans back and forth across the terrain can be very dangerous. That’s why campfire grills are the ideal cooking solution for outdoor adventures.
They’re simple to use, safe and efficient. In my opinion, they’re the only way to cook food when you’re away from home.
Sukhen is a passionate blogger and traveler who visited many historical places in Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, and Thailand. He’s an avid camper, so he shares his knowledge of camping and wildlife with his readers. He also helps readers plan their own camping trips. To know more, stay connected with Outdoor Awaits.
